Hockey Record.
Clarkson's Golden Knight hockey team went to post-season play for the 25th
time in 26 years, ending the season with an overall record of 17-13-1, and an ECAC record of
13-9.
Rugby Club.
After a few years of "dormancy," the Clarkson Rugby Club came alive in the fall.
It won its first five games, outscoring its opponents 139-17. In the 44-0 defeat of Potsdam State,
Sean Sullivan, a four-year veteran, led the scoring with two tries and two conversions.
Drinking Age.
When the legal drinking age in New York State was raised from 18 to 21 on
December 1, Potsdam's social scene was rocked. Common sights around downtown Potsdam
that first cold week in December were empty bar stools, deserted dance floors, and quiet, snowy
streets. After the initial shock wore off, a few changes appeared. The Rusty Nail was converted
into a half bar, half juice bar for the under 21 crowd. Maxfields began proofing at the door, and
the Whiskey One closed- lock, stock, and dollar pitchers.
Along with the law came an end to a Potsdam State/Clarkson tradition: the beer blast.
With approximately 75 percent of the students under 21, Greek houses no longer could afford
to sponsor blasts. Despite wind, snow, rain, and crowded buses, TEP held the last blast on
November 9 for 4,562 people to toast the end of an era.
Hawelka Murder.
Katherine Hawelka '89 was attacked savagely in an attempted rape outside
the Walker Arena about 3:15 a.m. on Friday, August 29, 1986, and knocked unconscious. Not
associated with the University in any way, her attacker, Brian M. McCarthy, confessed, and
was sentenced to 23 years to life for his crime. Katy died three days later in a Watertown
hospital, never having regained consciousness. The following February, her parents filed a $700
million civil suit against Clarkson, McCarthy, and the two watchmen who were on duty the
night of the attack. It later was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount with the details
kept secret.
Shantytown.
In April, with a load of scrap lumber and protest signs reminiscent of the 1960s, a
group of Clarkson students built a model shantytown on Snell Hall lawn to show their
opposition to Clarkson's South African investments. Members of the Clarkson Community for
Divestment, these students stated that this nonviolent protest was their way of underscoring the
importance of divesting about $3 million of Clarkson funds from companies in South Africa.
Wearing black arm bands and hammering to reggae music on Snell Hall lawn, this
group almost missed creating its shantytown because they had not obtained a building permit.
However, even though they never obtained that permit, they were allowed to complete the
structure on Friday afternoon with the understanding that it be removed on the following
Monday, the earliest that they could have received the permit. It was removed on schedule, and
their point was well made to the public and the University administration.
Hantz Died.
Jack Hantz, a member of the Clarkson faculty since 1953, died during the
summer. He had introduced three intercollegiate sports to the Clarkson campus: lacrosse,
soccer, and wrestling. His 1961-62 and 1963-64 wrestling teams were undefeated, the best in
Clarkson's history. A past president of the Northern New York Wrestling Officials Association,
and of the US Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association, he was inducted into the New York State
Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame in 1979.
